Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by ghebel:

Aroma - Dark fruit and chocolate malts up front with toffee like sweetness. Earthy and piney hops balance out the malt bill.

Appearance - Pours very dark brown with garnet edges. Head is light brown, creamy on top and comprised of tight smallish bubbles. Leaves moderate lacing on it's way down to a thin coating.

Taste - Dark fruits and sweet toffee. Dark malts combine with moderate bitterness. Sweet finish. Smoke is mild in the background and only enhances the other flavors. It is not overpowering. Finishes with earthy, piney hops.

Mouthfeel - Moderate body and carbonation bite. Bitterness lingers a while and seems to mildly coat the mouth. Mild, style appropriate astringency on the back of the mouth.

Drinkability - Very drinkable.

Overall - Nice Porter with a touch a smokey flavor in the background, but only enough to enhance the other flavors.

More User Reviews:

Appearance  Very dark, almost black, with a gorgeous foamy volcanic head that held onto the inside glass.

Smell  Big flavor of burnt malt, molasses, and huge brown sugar. Theres also some budding bread in there and probably a lot of other things but its tough to get through the malt aroma. Certainly all the standard dark flavors (as mentioned) along with coffee, cocoa powder, banana, and other dark fruits.

Taste  The smoky flavor is more at the finish. Up front theres the huge flavors presented at the nose. The malt dominates but everything else is there as promised. The studious taster will also find hops for balance

I would also like to point out a fantastic trick. I enjoy the aroma of chocolate the most as youd find with cocoa power (chocolate and sugar kind of) but the taste I like best like chocolate chips (Nestle, for instance). The chocolate in this one comes out as powder in the nose and semi-sweet eating chocolate in the flavor. Well done.

Mouthfeel  Little carbonation in accordance with the style. This one is smooth, smooth, smooth.

Drinkability  I sucked this down while in the kitchen making tacos. It goes great with anything, including Mexican food, steak, chicken, or Cheerios.

Comments Not only is this a terrific brew, but it hit my personal preferences right on target. Awesome!

Update: The 2004 is wound a bit tighter than the 03. The heavy flavors are bigger and the lighter fruits and sugars are faint. This is a terrific candidate for cellaring.

Pours a deep mahogany color, mostly black, especially when viewed in dim lighting, some dark ruby highlights around the edges. Super thick and creamy tan head that sustains and leaves some excellent lacing behind, something that seemingly all Stone brews do.

The aroma hits you before you bring the glass to your nose. Roasted, dark malts, some dry cocoa powder, slight char, some leafy, ashy, and dry hop character. The smoke is hard to notice at first, maybe because the beer is a little to cold. Upon warming up a bit, the smoke definitely comes out and becomes quite nice. Liquid smoke, burnt wood, campfire char - it adds such a great element to an already aromatically pleasing beer.

Stone Smoked Porter tastes exactly like the nose would lead you to believe it tastes. Roasted, nearly burnt malts, dry, light cocoa, bitter coffee beans, herbal hops that are just bitter enough to be called "perfect", and of course, a helpful heaping of smoke. Just like on the nose, the smoke comes out more and more on the palate as the beer warms up. It goes from being a tertiary flavor to a primary flavor over the course of 15-20 minutes.

Along with the smoked flavors comes the charred woodiness and an even more intense roasted profile that sticks with you through the aftertaste. A delicacy that coats your palate and keeps the flavor in your brain long after it's gone. The body is heavy and creamy, not quite chewy, nice amount of carbonation in this one.

Had this a long time ago, didn't care for it. Had it again recently and loved it. Smoke can be a touchy subject in the world of beer when not left in the most deft of hands (Heller-Trum), but it works perfectly here and isn't anywhere close to overpowering. Plus, only 4-5$ for a bomber? What a steal. One of the best smoked beers I've had to date, for many reasons.

Pretty bland, not a whole lot of interesting characteristics. Considering it is made by Stone, you kinda sip down wondering if you're just missing something, expecting it to maybe come out a bit more as it warms, but it never happens. This might be one of the most "meh" beers I have ever had and by far the worst Stone. Tastes more like Miller or Budweiser attempted to make C.D.A.

Pours a deep brown with some ruby tint to it with a light but creamy looking almond colored head,the aroma is very nice I think the light smoky hints along with the chocolate almost makes a fudge brownie aroma is it just me?Taste is very earthy with a raw peanut flavor with the smokiness coming in late that lingers definant resiny hop flavor intermingaled in there as well.A pretty complex beer very worthy of its high marks in my humble opinion.

A great dark pour, very nice muddy-tan head, and an awful lot of carbonation & lacing...the nose was subtle on smoliness i found, more present were some roasted malts & cocoa notes...the taste seemed more stout-like to me, some dark chocolates, roasted malts and rich creaminess...the smokiness creeped in subtley mid-sip and didn't overpower the other nice qualities of this beer....a nice coffee-bean bitterness lingered...mouthfeel was both lively and rich and offered up some creamy texture...great drinkability, complex enough to sit and sip but fresh & lively enough to consume at will...i thought it was well balanced and the subtle smokiness was plenty for this beer

Pours a moderately deep garnet with excellent clarity. A tan very long head settles to a quarter of an inch of foam and leaves some lacing on the glass.

A smooth smoke aroma blends nicely with a roasted malt aroma. There is also supporting malt character aromas of bready, toffee and chocolate. Hops aroma is not perceptible. There are mild dark fruit esters of prunes and figs.

There is a perfect balance of dark malt and smoke flavors that progresses to a roasty dry finish. A medium sweetness with some toffee and chocolate notes blended with a moderate hop bitterness.

The is a rich, complex porter with a nice balanced smoke character underlining and supporting the key porter qualities.

A: solid two fingers worth of toffee colored heard with good retention. The seemingly black pour is actually the darker side of mahongany when held to the light.

S: Overwhelming bouquet of malt sweetness. I've said this before but the aroma reminds me of my days as a baker when I would first open a tub of malt.

T: Very malty sweet with a real apparent smoke/coal taste that I haven't decided on yet. There is a nice hop accent in this porter which I was not expecting. The robustness created by the smoke is very "as advertised", but I don't know if it is necessarily for me. I've seldom had a smoked beer actually taste smoked, so I guess this one is spot on for its style.

M/D: Very smooth and very very big. I may have to acquire a taste for this style, but I'm sure that won't take long.

T-M- Sweet creamy coffee with massive malt charactor. Carmel malts are appearent with a light hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is rich and creamy excellence. Smooth carbonation and milky feel make for a great drink.

D- Will drink again but not sure when... if givin i'll put it down. Cheers!

It pours a very dark brown with a dense cream head. Medium to heavy lacing stuck to the glass sides

The nose has a medium level of dark smoked malts and behind that some nice chocolate smells.

The taste has a pretty typical porter flavors with some chocolate and coffee and then behind that the smoke starts, it's on the low to medium level. i personally prefer when a beer says its smoked for it to bring it and this is more of an approachable smoked beer.

About half way through the sip my mouth seems to dry out. i get this sometimes with some smoked beers. It's really wierd and it's like cottonmouth. It's not a terribly bad thing and pretty subtle but I'd prefer it wasn't there. I don't even have a clue as to what causes it. The carbonation level was too high as well.

A- Dark dark brown with a three finger, thick creamy off white head.S-Dark chocolate and then you are hit with billowing smoke in the nose. It is a great toasty, smoky, malty smell that invigorated your olfactory senses.T- Dark bittersweet chocolate with charred malts and a drop of liquid smoke. Awesome!M- Now we get to mouthfeel where I cant can't start with the word dark. Medium thickness and carbonation. Not bad...

One of the best smoked porters that I have had. This gives me a new respect for the style. it is not overwhelming and in your face but balances out nicely on the palate.

Picked this up at the Liquor Stop in Highland, Indiana after a visit to 3F. $5.29 for a 22oz.

A: Carbonation went hogwild with this one. The fairly gentle pour gave me a 5 finger head spilling over the glass. When it came back to it's senses, it was a nice creamy, fine, fluffy head. Reddish, brown - almost black liquid. Some ruby showing at the edges. The lacing was insane after all of that head action. Big topographical and stalactite shapes. Handsome looking beer.

S: Nice subtle sour roasted malt. Slight smokiness to it. Smoke same out in force when the beer warmed up more.

T: The last one I had was over chilled and it was horrible. I served this a little warmer than recommended and it was a great decision [pats self on back] because it was a lovely drink. Not a show off by any means but just what I like in a porter. A little sourness at first with the roasted maltiness following. The finish gave me an almost black currant type sweet/tart hint which was nice. After the second pour and it had warmed up more, I liked it even more. The head became darker and the maltiness took on a much more smokey personality. There was chocolate too. Really enjoyable.

M: Medium bodied. Quite smooth but carbonation is too prickly for me.

D: A really nice porter but way too over carbonated. Not jumping to the top of my porter list but I would be happy to drink it again and recommend it to anyone.

Pours very dark brown with a solid 3 fingers of rocky light brown head. Good head retention and pretty decent lacing.

Smell is largely of roasted sweet malts and hints of coffee. Decent, modest, and enjoyable.

Solid flavor! A fantastic flood of malts heavy in chocolate and coffee but not overwhelming. Finish starts sweet but ends in a bitterness that reminds me of a dark powdered cocoa and that cool smokey element seems to be underlying throughout. This might be my new favorite porter!

Mouthfeel is heavy but not overdone. Carbonation is light but lasting and helps to give a creaminess to the whole thing. Drinks incredibly smooth which lets this one go down very easy. Nice!

One additional note: reading the back of the bottle gives insight into some food pairings that go well with this brew - including PB&J sandwiches. I had to try it, and I must say that it was a very good match! If you like beer and food, check this one out! Very cool.

Yet another great brew from the people at Stone, who have yet to let me down and are now my all time favorite brewery. This one poures a very dark brown, almost black with a small head that leaves decent lace around the glass. The smell reminded me of the Arrogant Bastard Ale but with a hint of smoke, chocolate and coffee added to it. The taste is right on: little bit of hop bite at the beginning, then the smoked flavor comes in along with a hint of malt and chocolate, and finishes with a crisp coffee flavor. This one would go great with some bar-b-q'd burgurs....awesome brew!

Pours from the bomber a deep black with a small tan head forming. Hints of red try to peek out of the edges when help up to the light. The smell is roasty with chocolatey tones wafting in. Some hops and smoky notes are present as well. Quite unique.

The first sip hits upfront with a some nice roasted barley and chocolate tones. Creamy flavors are present along with quite a noticeable smoke flavor on the back of the palate. This is one of the most interesting porters I have yet to try. The smoky taste lingers in my mouth after each sip.

Mouthfeel is good and right on for the style. Medium bodied with good carbonation. Drinkability on this one is good, however I can't see myself having many. The smoky flavor doesn't really do it for me. However, it is easy to drink and is totally worth a try. Thank to ppoitras for the chance to try this intirguing brew.

Finally picked up a bottle of this while I was in Colorado for a couple of weeks. I've been wanting to try it for a while now. I had this one while chilling in my tent in RMNP during a rain storm one afternoon.

Really nice looking brew. Nearly opaque but with some brown fringes. Lots of tan head, thick lacing. Light aroma though. Sweet milk chocolate exclusively. The taste is a step in the right direction though. Light smokiness initially then bittersweet chocolate. Slight sweetness in the middle. Finish has a nice roasted bitterness. A touch of earthy hops. Okay mouthfeel. A bit thin, coats well and the flavor lingers though. Good drinkability overall. A nice beer with some nice smokiness and a good overall flavor. Goes down easy.

This is only the second offering I have ever had from Stone brewing, the first being the Vertical '05.

I suppose trying the Vertical first off the bat set the bar pretty high, as I had high hopes for the smoked porter. I enjoyed the porter - it just didnt quite live up to expectations.

There was really more of an oak taste than a smoked taste to this beer. But I'm fine with that. Very smooth and not all that heavy in the mouthfeel. Not overpoweringly rich, which is also a good thing.

I dunno... I just hoped for something a little more complex or "deeper" overall. This was still a great porter, but only slightly above the other better smoked porters I've had. It didn't blow away the competition like I thought it would.

Pours a deep light black. Not transparent, but a dark light. I cant explain it, but its dark and light at the same time. Trust me! Finger of head, disapating into nice lacing. Mocha head color. Pretty.

Smells hoppy. Some malt, maybe coffee. Not as deep as I like a Porter.

Drinkability is good. I personally dont enjoy the level of sweetness, but it is respectable. I would prefer more ABV, and maybe something fuller with more personality. I would rather have a Smuttynose Robust Porter of this Smoked Porter.